quête:12 record cover

Mit dem 2008 erschienenen Album „Gumbo“ fiel der Startschuss für Brenk Sinatras interna-tionale Producerlaufbahn. Vom JUICE Magazin zu einem der Top 20 besten Instrumentalalbenaller Zeiten gewählt, schaffte „Gumbo“ mit seinen brachialen und zugleich sehr souligen,sample-basierten Instrumentals den Sprung raus aus Österreich und rückte Brenk als Aus-nahmeproducer erstmals in den Fokus.Der Nachfolger„Gumbo II“erschien 2011 über das Kölner Label MPM, das mit Brenk Sinatra so-wie weiteren Ausnahmeproducern an Bord den wachsenden Hype um instrumentalen Hip-Hopmitzündete. Brenks kompromissloser, zweiter Part der Gumbo-Reihe katapultierte ihn kurzer-hand in die Riege der gefragtesten Beat-Produzenten Europas. Seither war auch der dritte undfinale Teil der Gumbo-Reihe in Planung, jedoch hinderten die immer mehr werdenden musi-kalischen Projekte und nicht zuletzt auch der Druck, die ersten beiden Albumteile zu toppen,Brenk an der Fertigstellung seiner Instrumental-Trilogie. Der Folder mit den dafür selektiertenInstrumentals wuchs auf weit über 100 Beats, wurde teilweise gelöscht und ständig in seinerZusammenstellung verändert, bis Brenk das gezielte Sammeln von Gumbo-Material 2017 vor-erst einstellte. Damals vollzog Brenk einen stilistischen Wechsel, der ihn weg von klassischen,Samplebasierten Beats hin zu jenen entspannten Trap-Hybriden führte, die heute als seinTrademark-Sound bekannt sind. Auch wollte sich das Mindset für die Fertigstellung von „Gum-bo III“ nicht einstellen und andere Projekte wurden vorgezogen, bis das Album komplett in denHintergrund rückte. Über die Jahre wurden Fans und Journalist*innen auf die Frage nach einemRelease Date immer wieder von Brenk vertröstet, „Gumbo III“ wurde zu einem sehnsüchtigerwarteten Phantomprojekt.

Fast Forward in das Jahr 2021: erstmals seit vier Jahren klickt sich Brenk wieder durch den Folder mit den einst für die „Gumbo III“ produzierten Interludes, musikalischen Skizzen undbereits fertiggestellten Beats. Mit einer neuen Label- und Verlagssituation im Hintergrund(2021 gründete Brenk das MusiklabelWave Planet Recordssowie den dazugehörigen VerlagWave Planet Publishing) fällt er den Entschluss, dass die Zeit für den Abschluss der Gumbo-Trilogie nun reif ist und Wave Planet Records zur neuen Heimat dieses Projekts werden muss.Danach folgt eine wochenlange und mühselige Wiederherstellung der in den Jahren 2012 bis2016 produzierten Instrumentals. Brenks Hauptaugenmerk war es, den musikalischen Spiritder Instrumentals unverändert zu lassen und den Sound nicht zu modernisieren. Aus heutigerSicht klingt das mit unzähligen Vinyl-Samples gespickte Chop-Gewitter auf der „Gumbo III“wie man es von Brenks früheren Beats kennt, anachronistisch und gerade dadurch erfrischendanders. Als einziges Update für die „Gumbo III“ Instrumentals wurden lediglich ein neuesMixing von Brenk sowie das Mastering seines hochkarätigen Producer-Kollegen Dexter zu-gelassen.Für die perfekte visuelle Ergänzung des Gumbo-Sounduniversums sorgt das verspielte, vorDetails strotzende Cover-Artwork von Cone The Weird, der bereits das markante Artwork zum„Gumbo II“ Album lieferte.Die Vollendung der Trilogie wird unter anderem mit einer ganz besonderen „Gumbo TrilogyBox“ zelebriert, die im Oktober 2022 erscheinen und das Herz jedes passionierten Sammlershöherschlagen lässt

• The Bob Andy catalogue is one of the most celebrated in the history of Jamaican music. His touchstone LP from
Studio One is a best-selling singles compilation simply entitled Song Book, a cornerstone of the Studio One
catalogue.
• Nine of 12 tracks recorded for this project appeared on Song Book.
• Bob Andy's works have been covered dozens of times, Tarrus Riley "Desperate Lover"; Bitty McLean "Let Them
Say"; Beres Hammond "I've Got To Go Back Home," Olaf Blackwood "You Don't Know"
• Focus tracks: Tarrus Riley "Desperate Lover”; Bitty McLean "Let Them Say"; Beres Hammond "I've Got To Go
Back Home," Olaf Blackwood "You Don't Know"
• Liner notes written by Herbie Miller

Tricky is back. Back with a new studio album, False Idols, and his own label (also bearing the False Idols name), but also back in a personal sense. I was lost for ages, he says. I was trying to prove something to people, trying to do something to please other people and also myself at the same time, which is never going to work. To be honest with you, Ive been floating around since Chris Blackwell and Island. My last two albums, I thought they were good, but I realise now they werent. This album is about me finding myself again.
It opens with a cover of a Van Morrison song, Somebodys Sins, which sees Tricky and vocalist Francesca Belmonte whispering Jesus died for somebodys sins, but not mine over a sparse groaning bass. The lead single Parenthesis, which features a vocals from Peter Silberman of The Antlers, has more rhythmic grunt, which gives a different dimension to the dark gothic atmosphere that pervades the record. No-one does this kind of thing better.
The resemblance to Maxinquaye is undeniable, though the material on False Idols is gentler; more mature. Many of the songs feature artists signed to Trickys new label, including 24-year Londoner Francesca Belmonte and Fifi Rong. The album also includes collaborations with Nigeria's new global star Nneka, the afore-mentioned Peter Silberman. In the months before the albums release, False Idols will also release an EP "Matter of Time" showcasing the labels roster on new non-album material produced by Tricky.
Why the name False Idols Because theres so much bollocks going on at the moment mate, Tricky fires back. People follow celebrities and read every little thing they do. Its living vicariously through someone else. Get your own life. All this stuff is false idols. In this new album Ill stand behind every track, Tricky says. I dont care whether people like it. Im doing what I want to do, which is what I did with my first record. Thats what made me who I was in the beginning. If people dont like it, it dont matter to me because Im back where I was.

Fly Me To The Sun is a breathtaking German library gem from the hallowed Coloursound label. Originally out in 1983 it features two Polish composers, Andrzej Marko and André Mikola. If outré synth-funk is your thing, you need this record.

Almost blindingly luminous with positive vibes and radiant optimism, Fly Me to the Sun is a collection of funky, sun-dappled compositions for synthesizer and live instruments like drums, bass and guitar. A dope blend of beatbox driven future jazz and electro pop.

The wonderfully sleaze-adjacent opener "Dhamma" includes some grandiose piano chords amid floating ambient sounds a la Steve Hillage with slick drums entering the fray at a languid pace. "Circulation" sounds like Bowie ran into Chaz Jankel during an extended stay in Los Angeles, the Thin White Duke emerging out of a studio at 6am, bleary-eyed and clutching this filthy, bleepy instrumental of sonic smut. "Magic Scenery" is as delicate and astounding as the title suggests, a deep ambient movement conjuring halcyon images of rolling fields with abundant fauna and flora; acid-tinged visions of intense colour and natural beauty. Cool, slo-mo breaks adorn the strutting melancholy of “Longing for Tomorrow” and “Nocturnal Flowers” to close out Side A.

Skip the title track, which opens up Side B, and head straight to “Birth of a Butterfly” for a slice of creeping digi-dub-soul niceness. This should've been front and centre of that Personal Space compilation a decade ago. Raising both the tempo and the temperature, “Riding on a Sunbeam” continues in the mesmerising cosmic funk style before "Osmosis", one of the clear stand-outs, presents a fine vintage synth solo over a mellow funky rubberband beat. The closing track, "Solar Heating", warms things up with slapped bass and bold drum machine beats and the synth lends Sci-Fi vibes to the dark dub-funk-reggae rhythm.

As David Hollander, in Unusual Sounds: The Hidden History of Library Music, states, Coloursound was "founded in 1979 by composer, music lawyer, and vibraphonist Gunter Greffenius. A Munich-based library with a reputation for releasing innovative and ambitious music, it catered largely to the market for experimental sounds, its first release was 1980’s Biomechanoid, an abstract synthesizer excursion by Joel Vandroogenbroeck, of the pioneering kosmische band Brainticket. The record — complete with imposing, anonymous title and unearthly H.R. Giger cover art — set the tone for the label’s progressive leanings. The label’s catalogue stands as a tribute to the unfettered creative license that libraries were able to provide to forward-thinking musicians who, frustrated by the whims and constraints of the commercial scene, found complete freedom in the world of production music."

As with all our library music re-issues, the audio for Fly Me To The Sun comes from the original analogue tapes and has been remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis. Richard Robinson has brought the original Coloursound sleeve back to life in all its metallic silver glory.

One amp. One mic. One person. Countless hooks. That’s the Dazy formula. Since first releasing the single Bright Lights b/w Accelerate in August 2020, Dazy mastermind James Goodson has been writing, recording, and releasing new music like a man on the hunt to find the best pop hook, and he won’t stop until he’s put all of them into his songs. Show- casing a unique set of influences, Dazy’s sound marries thumping drum machine beats, blasts of feeding back guitar, and sugar-sweet hooks into something that sounds like God- flesh covering Oasis—or maybe the other way around. With lean songwriting that recalls Teenage Fanclub but a home-re- corded production style better suited for Big Black, Goodson builds a constant churn of abrasive, consuming noise and then makes it catchier than anyone else would ever dare to.

Dublin-based producer Moving Still further blends both his Saudi Arabian and Irish heritage on 'Kalam Hub', a triumphant new EP that marks the fifth release on CWPT/Cooking With Palms Trax. Following a series of 12” edits and original productions that have put his sounds in the record bags of DJs including Hunee, Nabihah Iqbal and Esa Williams, 'Kalam Hub' presents an ambitious expansion of the Moving Still sound, delving into his identity and background to open up imaginative, universal new corners for club culture.

This potent musicality is immediately evident from the first notes of 'Kunafa King'. Taking its title from a traditional Arabic dessert, analogue midi sounds deliver a skewed take on the traditional Saudi rhythms of the artist's youth, before expanding into a wistful diversion for any self-respecting dance floor. It's a trick Moving Still pulls off again on the pulsing 'Hayati 89', which transforms from a traditional aesthetic into a blistering, neon-tinted Italo banger, the kind of track designed to compliment an accelerated spin in the car gracing the eye-catching cover of ‘Kalam Hub’, a collaboration with the artist alongside Manchester-based graphic design studio, Dr. Me.

Concluding the record's A-side, the rhythms take a trippier turn for the duration of 'La Titasil Feeya'. Translating to “don't call me!” and making sonic reference to teenage years immersed in rock, metal and general angst, it unfolds as something akin to Middle East-tinted techno with a formidable kick drum, before exploding in colourful, organic breakbeats. Immediately on the flip, the sense of wonder returns in a sonic mirage for 'My Bosa Is For You', weightless rhythms blending with an electric organ and charming, lightly psychedelic breakdowns.

Further sonic tricks fall from Moving Still's delicately-tailored sleeves on 'Haram Odyssey', where an almost impossibly tight bass line provides the function for contrasting synthesis and unpredictable percussion, drawing parallels between the sometimes confusing aspects of the artist's dual-cultural life as a child, through to the music he makes as an adult. Fittingly, the record concludes with ‘Kalam Hub', a triumph of minimalist percussion and traditional instrumentation that pays tender tribute to the Moving Still's grandmother, translating simply to “Love Talk”.

An extended 12” ‘Club Mix’ of the 1980’s classic covered in true lovers rock style by the late Melody Beecher. Produced by husband Paul and remastered from the original two track session tape. Jura Soundsystem delivers a ‘Lovers Version’ combining snippets of vocal from the original with the Dub mix, going heavy on the reverb to create a more dubbed out excursion.

The 12” is housed in a black and yellow IOJ Island Disco sleeve with sticker designed by Bradley Pinkerton.

Now coming out on vinyl BBE is pleased to announce the 12” release of The Lyman Woodard Organisation - 'Creative Musicians', featuring remixes by Waajeed and Henrik Schwarz. Originally released as a digital EP from the album 'Strata Records – The Sound of Detroit – Reimagined by Jazzanova', 'Creative Musicians' and its remixes now come to you on deep grooved vinyl. The vocalist for these sessions is Sean Haefeli, who originally hails from Indianapolis, and brings a relaxed urgency to his contributions, sounding like a young Gil Scott-Heron. Leveraging his 20 plus year friendship with legendary Detroit DJ/Producer extraordinaire, Waajeed, Amir enlists him for a special four-to-the-floor mix that not only keeps that organic vibe but also adds a unique contemporary Detroit flavour! Henrik Schwarz needs little introduction to fans of eclectic electronic sounds. For over thirty years, his amazing body of work has packed dancefloors worldwide. Henrik takes ‘Creative Musicians’ in a slightly different direction, retaining many of Jazzanova’s original elements while adding his signature sound to the mix, providing another dance floor scorcher! And just to give you proper context, we have included the cult-classic, much-loved original version of ‘Creative Musicians’ by the Lyman Woodard Organization. ‘Strata Records - The Sound of Detroit - Reimagined by Jazzanova’ is no ‘covers’ album, rather a brand-new celebration of the iconic imprint, as Jazzanova’s take on Lyman Woodard Organization’s musical manifesto ‘Creative Musicians’ makes clear from its Afrobeat-inspired horn arrangements, drum track, and syncopated tempo.

Wie alle drei vorherigen Alben der Band beruht auch dieses auf der konzeptionellen, ideellen und künstlerischen Verbindung zwischen der Musik von FESTLAND und der bildenden Kunst des Malers, Zeichners und Texters Fabian Weinecke, der im Jahr 2012 verstorben ist. Das Trio (DDFM, Thomas Geier, Yoshino) vertont die lyrischen Texte Weineckes in eigenen Kompositionen und nutzt seine Bilder und Zeichnungen zur Covergestaltung. Er ist somit als assoziiertes, viertes Mitglied der Band zu verstehen. "Hippies" wird als Doppelalbum (12"/Vinyl) erscheinen. Es wurde im Parka Sound Studio in Berlin Kreuzberg eingespielt und dort von Berend Intelmann (Paula, Jens Friebe) abgemischt. Norman Nitzsche (Whitest Boy Alive) besorgte das Mastering. Dem Album werden zwei Booklets mit Malerei und Zeichnungen aus den verschiedenen Schaffensphasen Fabian Weineckes beigelegt. Seit dessen Tod an den Folgen einer lebenslangen Mukoviszidose im Jahr 2012 spielen FESTLAND in reduzierter und elektroakustischer Instrumentierung. Zum musikalischen Kern gehört das repetitive und zahnradartig ineinandergreifende Spiel von Geige, Kontrabass und Schlagwerk. Im Zusammenhang mit den witzig-skurrilen, traurigen und poetischen Texten im mehr stimmigen zarten Gesang des Trios ist somit ein ganz eigensinniger musikalischer Kosmos entstanden. Die musikalische Referenz dafür bildet weniger ein klassisches als vielmehr ein popmusikalisches Repertoire, das in der elektronischen Musik von House, Techno und Dub zu verorten ist. Der Journalist Jens Uthoff schrieb in der taz über das dritte Album treffend, es klänge so, als "habe man Kraftwerk die Synthesizer weggenommen". Der Radiomoderator und DJ Klaus Fiehe (1 Live Fiehe, ByteFM) sprach von "Math-Folk".FESTLAND knüpfen konzeptuell nicht nur an elektronische Musik oder Krautrock der 1970er sondern auch an eine Phase avantgardistischer Popmusik und Malerei der 1980er Jahre an (etwa "Neue Wilde"), in denen Künstler*innen in beiden Welten von Musik und bildender Kunst gleichermaßen zu Hause gewesen sind.

Welcome to Smallville, Dana!

With being a DJ and producer, running a label and a record-store, Dana and Smallville have been soulmates for long and following the same paths. We are very happy to present her 12“ with crispy dancefloor-feels, heavy basses and irresistible grooves.

Full cover artwork as always by Stefan Marx.

Glasgow’s Seated Records return with more archival Scottish New Wave material; this time, in the form of Pop Wallpaper’s disco-not-disco interpretation of the Shuggie Otis classic, “Strawberry Letter 23”. And interpretation is the right word, guitarist Evan Henderson confesses that the lyrics sang by Audrey Redpath on the record were, “err inaccurate due to pre-internet home recording translation”.

The Edinburgh band first released “Strawberry Letter 23” in 1986 as a double A side 12” alongside original song, “Nothing Can Call Me Back". The 1986 record’s sleeve states that the original - “Strawberry Letter 23" has been “re-modelled for special pleasures, namely on the dance floor”. Here the re-model has been re-modelled once more. The track is recontextualised for 2022 playing on a four track 12” that includes an unreleased instrumental demo version of the track, as well as mixes from label founder Pigeon Steve and close friend of the label, Useful Tom.

Wallpaper’s first EP “Over Your Shoulder” was released in 1984. The release received a considerable amount of radio support, not least from Radio 1’s John Peel and Janice Long, which culminated with a live session for Long’s show at the BBC’s studios in London. Released a couple of years later, Strawberry Letter received similar levels of radio play. Despite (much to the band’s confusion) being tracked by Motown UK at one point, Pop Wallpaper did not go on to receive commercial success and eventually went their separate ways.

“Strawberry Letter 23” sits in the singular historical, cultural context of mid-80s Britain. Following the explosion of punk at the end of the 1970s, in the 1980s many British bands began experimenting with new styles and instruments - always keeping an eye firmly on their punk roots. The loose percussion and synthesiser melodies have an almost new-age, balearic mood, while the falsetto vocals of singer Audrey Redpath are an unmistakable embodiment the Post-punk style of the time. The prominent bass-line suggests a reggae or disco inspiration, and bass player Myles Raymond admits that he obsessed over a Sly & Robbie Taxi records compilation around the time the band put the tune together.

This reissue includes an unreleased, unheard instrumental demo-version of the cover, “SL23”. The band recorded the demo during an nighter at Wilf’s Planet studios in Edinburgh, just after Wet Wet Wet had just finished up their own demo for “Wishing I Was Lucky” (Pop Wallpaper all insist they thought it would never be a hit). In this version, we hear the band messing around with drum machines and synths which, in a similar style to Kevin Low and Fiona Carlin on Seated 001, creates a stripped back dance floor work-out that bares almost no resemblance to any version of “Strawberry Letter 23”. In an attempt to emulate the Trevor Horne production style of the time, the band’s drummer Les Cook recalls pushing for more and more reverb on the drums during the session to a reluctant producer Chic Medley, who “eventually obliged, but needed a lot of persuading”. Much to Cook’s disappointment “the reverb was toned down when we got to the final release”.

On the B side, label boss Pigeon Steve delivers a dubbed-out and acid drenched, cosmic rendition of the track with “SL24”, before Useful Tom (son of Pop Wallpaper bass player Myles Raymond) brings the EP to an end with spacey de-construction of fractured vocals and gliding synths on the B2 with “SL25”.

1982, Brussels: The former au pair for Rick Wakeman of Yes and two of her teenage friends are at the doorstep of Les Disques Du Crepuscule, ready to cut an album with Gilles Martin. Living on busking wages and next door to Tuxedomoon, their work results in a contemporary bossanova record that would provide a missing link between Antonio Carlos Jobim and Kraftwerk. Camino Del Sol was issued and promptly forgotten, with Isabelle Antena moving toward jazz in Asia and the others returning to France. Twenty years later, it was findable only as a VG+ LP with a sticker price of $4.99. Intrigued by the striking cover's sunlit patio furniture emptiness basking in the south of France, we scooped up Camino Del Sol and grouped the extant Antena recordings from that exceptional period by session. 2LP reissue of the original five-song mini-LP adds the group's first 12" (a cover of Jobim's "Girl From Ipanema," naturally), the Seaside Weekend 12", compilation tracks, and two previously unissued cuts, recasting this short-lived combo's forward-thinking milemarker as a modern-day masterstroke.

The Florence, SC-based multi-instrumentalist Alex Melton, known for his renditions of Punk Songs as country influenced songs on YouTube, has announced his new album 'Southern Charm'. The record, which is out 23rd January 2023, is Alex's debut album on label Pure Noise Records. Southern Charm is made up of two halves, amped-up versions of country classics and Alex's trademark alternative spin on punk and metal tracks. The album synthesizes all of Melton’s influences, from the country staples played on a loop in his childhood home through scene icons like blink-182, The Starting Line, A Day to Remember and Four Year Strong. In the first half of Southern Charm it includes covers of Tim McGraw’s nostalgic “Something Like That” (ft. Ryan Scott Graham) and Garth Brooks’ “Friends In Low Places'' the second half offerings come from The Story So Far, The Amity Affliction and Stick To Your Guns. Proficient on drums, guitar, bass, keyboards, and trumpet, Melton typically produces all of his YouTube covers at his home studio, a testament to his insatiable desire for knowledge and self-improvement – and a snapshot of how far he’s come as an artist and recording engineer throughout the years. “All of the technology has changed so much since I first started,” he says, noting his first video was a pop-punk cover of Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” “I started with a Home Recording for Dummies book and an original GoPro, which at the time was the cheapest way to get HD footage on YouTube.” Now armed with vastly more knowledge and resources, Southern Charm finds him working with outside producers for the first time, bringing in Tom Denney (A Day to Remember, who helmed the rock-based country covers) and Alan Day (Four Year Strong, who produced the country-based rock songs) to offer new perspective and add a level of vision and cohesion to the project.

In the early '70s, after relocating from his native Genoa to Rome, young saxophonist Gianni Oddi was beginning to establish himself as a super-cool arranger thanks to a series of cover albums recorded for RCA Italy. They contained funk, soul and easy-listening versions of contemporary pop hits, but Oddi often managed to include one or two original compositions of his own – like the ones contained in this new instalment of Four Flies's 12-inch vinyl series for DJs.

The luscious funk of Dreamin', on side A, shows Oddi as an Italian master of groove. Warm, sexy and nocturnal, the song combines breaky drums with tantalizing vocals (provided by Baba Yaga's Isabella Sodani), adding a romantic, dreamy vibe in the special with strings and piano (the latter played by Oddi himself) that are at once reminiscent of soulful black music and influenced by the melodic tradition of Italy.

Geronimo, on side B, is almost a tribute to Manu Dibango – a favourite of Oddi's at the time. Here, Oddi's signature groove, at once refined and infectious, is driven by Mario Scotti's pulsating bass, Silvano Chimenti's wah-wah guitar, Oddi's own persuasive sax and, in particular, sound engineer (and former drummer) Enzo Martella's 'moose call' sound (made by sliding a thumb across the top of a conga). In a nutshell: Africa reimagined in Via Tiburtina (the street in Rome where RCA Italy's recording studios where located).

Both tracks are perfect examples of Oddi's sound and... Style (yes, his 1974 album for RCA Italy's SP series). The same sound (and style!) characterizes masterpieces like Le Montagne della Luce (co-written with Romolo Grano), La Sbandata (the funky theme from Domenico Modugno's soundtrack, which Oddi arranged and produced) and Mondo di Notte Oggi (co-written with Gianni Dell'Orso). All of these have been released by Four Flies, which continues to celebrate this fantastic groove maker.

A Quiet Normal Life: The Best Of Warren Zevon is a greatest hits album by American musician Warren Zevon released in 1986.
This compilation covers Zevon's four studio albums with Asylum Records. It was mastered by Barry Diament.
A Quiet Normal Life highlights the best of Warren Zevon's Asylum albums. Includes "Werewolves of London" and

Cacophony is the second Rudimentary Peni album. Released after the band returned from their first hiatus following a series of personal events that changed the band forever. The thirty track LP keeps turning heads 34 years after its release. Far from writing another “Death Church” the band embarked on a truly bizarre quest - to record an album based on the life and writings of horrors absolute king H.P. Lovecraft. A dense cacophony of total free songwriting. Dark, gothic, intricate, unexpected head-scratching punk. The short bursts of music twist and turn at every corner - the vocals are part classic Blinko and part spoken word, the guitar is full of distorted awkward tones and the very inventive bass and drums are locked together creating a truly unique album. Cacophony is the benchmark of outsider Punk and the influence and cult nature of this album grows with every passing year. This reissue stays close to the original version, with Nick Blinko’s incredible cover art, including a 11” x 11” 8-page lyric booklet.

The album’s seemingly brief tracklisting belies a work of great beauty and depth, and one which turned into a one-man crusade for singer/guitarist Lars Andersson, intertwining deeply personal stories with his love for the era of Romanticism. “Every time I go to a museum and I’m about to pass through the era of Romanticism I stop in awe,” says Lars of the enduring appeal of the 18th century artistic movement. “Whatever it is – stories, paintings, music – it triggers something deep within me, something profoundly human. It really hits a nerve, and it utterly immerses me to a point where I can’t move.” The album replicates this feeling; a gloriously over-the-top blend of Slowdive and Sigur Rós, mixed with the single-mindedness of Daniel Johnston and the noisiness of Nirvana, it’s as bold and beautiful and every bit as ornate as the art that inspired it. Unlike their acclaimed debut, 2019’s All That Ever Could Have Been, which gradually came into focus with a 15-minute opening track, Picturesque hits home from the very first note of the short and sweet opener, ‘Ballerina’. That’s not to say there aren’t epics here – ‘Metamorphosis’ is essentially a 12-minute suite of three movements; blistering closer ‘The Lot’ is 11 minutes of Swans-inspired heaviness – but everything is much more direct and focused. This isn’t an album to lose yourself in, it’s one to get swept away by. “‘More is more’ was definitely the credo when making this record,” agrees Lars. “A big inspiration were bands like Pond and the way they manage to fill their songs up with stuff to the absolute maximum. While I definitely tried to give the listener some room to breathe at certain points and while, in good old post-rock fashion, it still builds up and breaks down, it relies much more on simple melody and harmony as opposed to noisy experimentation to transport feeling.” Never more so than on the first single, ‘The Golden Age’, which is the album’s centrepiece; a soaring slice of über-shoegaze that is so stunning you can’t take your eyes or ears off it. Like all the songs on the album, it’s based around a fairy-tale from the Romantic era. In this case, it’s Heinrich von Ofterdingen by the German poet, author and philosopher Novalis (other influences are: The Steadfast Tin Soldier by Hans Christian Andersen; The Seven Ravens and Hans in Luck by the Brothers Grimm; Undine by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué and The Golden Pot by E.T.A. Hoffmann), with Lars drawing parallels between the titular character’s mystical and romantic searchings and his own personal quest. This is apt as the album has been an overriding obsession for Lars for the past two-and-a-half years; as well as writing and recording the songs (bandmate Phillip Dornauer played drums), he also mixed and mastered them at his Alpine Audio studio and Picturesque is very much his Brian Wilson or Kevin Shields moment. MOLLY were in the middle of their European tour when Covid hit in early 2020, forcing Lars to retreat back to his home outside Innsbruck and giving him time and space to think about every detail of the record. “Well, I was on a quest I guess,” he admits. “Like everyone, I was stranded at home and at some point I just said to myself, ‘If not now, then when?’ It was an intense process. I’ve worked on music from other bands and artists before but producing and mixing your own music is an utterly different animal. It was probably the most intense thing I’ve ever done, but it was also incredibly rewarding and the feeling of it all coming together piece by piece is incomparable.” The artwork is just as effective. “I think of Radiohead’s OK Computer – what you hear on the record is what you see on the cover,” explains Lars. “We were inspired by what we call ‘wimmelbilder’ hidden pictures in German, a very specific style in art where there are a lot of little things happening. When you see it from further away, it looks organic like a lost painting from the area of Romanticism, but the closer you look the more digital it gets. It’s a nice analogy.” He’s right, it perfectly sums up the conflict between Romanticism and 21st century life. “Romanticism was basically an answer to the Industrial Revolution as well as the social and political norms of the Age Of Enlightenment,” concludes Lars. “Now, we all live in a much more industrialised, materialistic, individualistic and sterile society than any early Romanticist could have ever possibly imagined. Over 200 years later the Romanticists have lost the battle.” With the divine and downright pulchritudinous Picturesque, MOLLY begin the fightback.1.Ballerina 2.Metamorphosis 3.The Golden Age 4.Sunday Kid 5.So To Speak 6.The Lot

CHRISTIAN DEATH was formed by Rozz Williams in Los Angeles, California in 1979. Williams was eventually joined by guitarist/songwriter Rikk Agnew of ADOLESCENTS, James McGearty on bass and George Belanger on drums. This CHRISTIAN DEATH line-up was responsible for recording the band's iconic 1982 debut, ONLY THEATRE OF PAIN, widely regarded as the #1 American goth album of all-time. This exclusive double-LP version of OTOP commemorates its 40th anniversary- the first disc is the digitally remastered, original version of the album while the second disc is comprised of "Dogs" from HELL COMES TO YOUR HOUSE, four pre-Frontier demos, two studio demos made for a second Frontier Records' LP that never happened and two alternate studio mixes from OTOP. The gatefold LP jacket is printed in its original its black and metallic gold, includes a Colver collage poster and a hardcover copy of the photo book, ONLY THEATRE OF PAIN and all come in a hard slipcase. The oversized 12" x 12" book features rare and never-before-seen photos of CHRISTIAN DEATH as well as new interviews with photographer Edward C. Colver, the surviving band members, Frontier's Lisa Fancher and others. Colver befriended the band and followed them around in late 1981 and early 1982 at more than a dozen concerts as well as photo shoots in Rozz Williams' family home (used on the back cover and insert of ONLY THEATRE OF PAIN) and a session of now famous images at a Pomona CA cemetery. Info: Just as the theatrically-minded LA punk scene was beginning to give rise to such morbidly themed outfits as 45 Grave and the Flesh Eaters, an androgynous teenaged street performer named Rozz Williams (né Roger Painter) founded CHRISTIAN DEATH, one of the most prolific, enduring, and beloved gothic acts of all time. Williams' otherworldly groan can make "Only Theatre of Pain" difficult going for those that aren't the gothic faithful, but the loud/not-too-fast music (courtesy of ex-ADOLESCENTS guitarist Rikk Agnew and the walking-dead rhythm section of bassist James McGearty and drummer George Belanger) is appropriately doom 'n' gloomy, with inventive arrangements and clear sound - thanks to Frontier Records' go-to punk production legend, Thom Wilson- capturing the mood in full B-movie fidelity. The lyrics sacriligiously address horror topics and religion: they're overwrought (the backwards masking of 'Mysterium Iniquitatis' being one clever exception) but easy to overlook in the wash of inspired rock noise. The original lineup's recorded debut is a gem. Artists inspired by CHRISTIAN DEATH include Danzig, Craddle of Filth, Paradise Lost, Korn, Type O Negative, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson and Jane's Addiction. Press: "A depraved masterpiece, this was punk rock made poetic, subversive, and gracefully savage."- AV Club "The Gothic album to out-gothic all others" - Melody Maker "Only Theatre of Pain's influence should not be underestimated" - Record Collector Limited availability!

Tyranny and Mutation is the second studio album by American hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult, released on February 11, 1973, by Columbia Records. The album was recorded at the Columbia Studios in New York City during the year before and was produced by Murray Krugman and Sandy Pearlman. On May 12, 1973, the album peaked at #122 on the Billboard 200.

The song “Baby Ice Dog” features lyrics by singer/poet Patti Smith (who was keyboardist Allen Lanier’s girlfriend at the time), who would make several lyrical contributions to the band’s repertoire during its career. The song “The Red & The Black”, with lyrics referencing the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, is a renamed, re-recorded version of “I’m on the Lamb But I Ain’t No Sheep” from the same-titled debut album. The song was later covered by the Minutemen and Band of Susans.

Celebrating its 50th anniversary, Tyranny and Mutation is available as a limited edition of 2000 individually numbered copies on translucent blue coloured vinyl.